The Pioneer Company of missionaries arrived “On the morning of the 4th of April, 163-day from Boston, we came to anchor, abreast of the village of Kailua … a great number of the natives-men, women and children, from the highest to the lowest rank, including the king and his mother, were amusing themselves in the water.” “(The Missionaries sought) permission to take such situations for a year, a very short probation for such an experiment. This the king granted, not only permitting us to reside and labor at different islands, but offering us such a shelter as the grassy huts of the country afforded”.

While the initial approval of allowing the missionaries to stay in the Islands was an extensive process, on March 18, 1823, Liholiho wrote to the American Mission stating, in part, “The ministers sailed here to do good things for us, we were overjoyed. And later on we may well be fully virtuous. We observe the sacred day of Almighty God in heaven, savior of us all.” “Greatly beloved are all of you for thinking of us, for sending them here. Thankfully you sent teachers or our lands would be completely ignorant. But no, you showed us compassion. Our lands have become enlightened.”